Simple Machines, Elementary

Abbreviated components, selected for their simplicity and ease of operation, provide for 24 introductory mechanical experiences. Seventy-five pages of detail accompany the materials to support and encourage productive student inquiry and satisfying teacher demonstrations using the classical mechanisms: lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, screw, and wedge. This kit includes specific experiments dealing with the effort arm with respect to levers of the first, second, and third class; reducing effort with a wheel and axle; fixed and movable pulleys to change the direction and amount of a force; inclined plane in the context of mechanical advantage; and the relationship between wedges and screw.